This past spring, the Illinois General Assembly
passed a new bill requiring compulsory mental health screening for children
and pregnant women; it was signed into law by Governor Blagojevich. This
program will require all pregnant women and children through the age of
18 be tested for mental health needs.

Public forums are now being held in different locations
throughout the state and many alarmed parents are attempting to get the
word out: get to those forums and voice your opinion. "We're moving toward
social training over academic training with this program," says Larry
Trainor, a Mt. Prospect parent of four children and a contact for Citizens
Commission on Human Rights.

Trainor went on to state, "Since psychiatric involvement
in education, SAT scores have gone down for the past few decades. Evaluating
mental conditions is not based on scientific evidence, it's subjective.
What if they find a student has a math disorder, a reading disorder? Would
that be a mental health disorder, one that would cause the parents to
put their children with a drug for a condition they may or may not have?"
Trainor asked.

Other concerned parents say they will refuse to
participate in such a program they emphatically state has gone way too
far with state interference in their lives and the personal lives of their
children. Amy Witherspoon said she and her husband will leave the state
before they subject their three year old to any mental health screening
by the State of Illinois, nor will Amy, now six months pregnant, submit
to any state program "invading my privacy under the guise of mental health
screening." Amy's husband, Larry, also rang in by saying, "This is just
one more step in the state separating the parent from the child via the
school system. Compulsory mental health evaluation for my wife against
her will? Good-bye, Nazi Illinois."

The Witherspoon's aren't alone in their opinion
about health issues in their state. Dom Pagalia, grandfather of six, says
the governor and legislature have "gone crazy," passing this new, compulsory
mental health law and says the voters of Illinois should "throw out every
legislator this November who voted for this forced testing program." Pagalia
says his two children, the parents of his grand children, will file a
lawsuit to keep the state from any forced mental evaulation of their minor
children. Should that fail, Pagalia says they are prepared to leave the
state rather than give up their rights as parents.

Under this new, compulsory mental health law, pregnant
women will be screened for depression and following her baby's birth,
evaluation would continue for up to one year. Follow up treatment will
also be provided under this program. All children ages 0-18 years will
be provided screening under this mental health program. "Mental health
centers" at schools will handle the process to "ensure appropriate and
culturally relevant assessment of young children's social and emotional
development with the use of standardized tools."

The Illinois State Board of Education is the agency
targeted with the responsibility to develop appropriate tests that assess
both mental health and academic standards. The current task force hosting
these statewide public forums is scheduled to send their recommendations
to Governor Blagojevich by the end of the summer in accordance with the
Act (HB 2900).

Other concerned parents say they
will refuse to participate in such a program they emphatically state has
gone way too far with state interference in their lives and the personal
lives of their children.